Dark Side of the Moon
by Nuit des Etoiles
Summary: Hugo, Lorcan and Eva return for their fourth year, but from day one it is clear this year won't be easy. Lorcan struggles to express his feelings for Eva and Hugo soon finds himself in an unexpected and difficult relationship. Hugo/Scorpius Lorcan/OC R&R?
1. Prologue

**_Notes: _**_Hi there! Welcome to my first ever fanfic. As you can see, this chapter is narrated by Lily Potter, but as I said in the description, the narrators and main characters for the rest of the story will be Hugo Weasley, Lorcan Scamander and Eva Barnes (my OC). I guess I just decided I wanted to use Lily to introduce the characters and to get the story rolling :) Please review or flame after you have read, and don't worry, I am expecting critism of my appaling writing, so don't be afraid to flame! Rated M for what will probably come later :)_

Prologue

Lily tried to keep up with her brother, Albus, as they made their way through the bustling corridors of the Hogwart's Express, but she had soon lost him in the crowds of excitable students. Great. Now she was left with no-one but a miserable and terrified Hugo for company, trailing behind her as if he was trying to hide in her shadow. She knew the prospect of living away from home for months made most first years worried, but poor, shy little Hugo was really taking it to a new level.

She sighed, they were clearly too late to find an empty cabin. She knew her brothers and cousins would not want them getting in the way when they were with their friends, and besides, there was little chance of finding them in the overcrowded train. There was no choice but to sit in a cabin with someone they didn't know. Hugo wouldn't thank her for that.

She peered into some nearby cabins, looking for fellow first years, when she noticed two blond boys that she recognised. Lorcan and Lysander, the twin sons of one of her Father's closest friends; Luna Lovegood. However, as close as their parents may be, Lily did not much like the twins, they were, well, really weird.

However, it was too late now, for they had spotted her too.

"Lily! Hugo! Come join us!"

That was Lorcan, waving his hands at her, whilst Lysander just sat, staring in that creepy way of his. Even if you did not know them, they were easy to tell apart, despite their identical features, for Lorcan kept his hair short and neat, whereas Lysander's rather resembled a shaggy, untamed bush.

"Hi" Lily said, knowing she sounded less than enthusiastic, and not caring at all. She heard Hugo give a nervous laugh behind her, before following her into the cabin.

Well, this would be fun, she thought, grimacing and taking a seat opposite the twins. Hugo looked more ready to cry in a corner than participate in a conversation, and she knew from experience that Lysander was more of a disturbing-stares-rather-than-talking kind of person.

"Looks like we're setting off" She said into the silence, as smoke started to drift past the window and the train jerked into action.

"Yeah" Lorcan said, not sounding particularly bothered. "Are you ok, Hugo?" He continued, watching Hugo, whose eyes had widened and skin paled dramatically. Hugo gulped and nodded, but Lorcan didn't look convinced.

"He's just nervous" Lily said offhand, wanting desperately to tell Hugo to stop acting like a blubbering five year old. "So... what house do you want to be sorted into?" She asked, trying to steer the conversation away from Hugo.

Lorcan glanced sympathetically back across at Hugo before replying.

"Ravenclaw, I guess, like our mother. But I wouldn't mind Hufflepuff or Gryffindor either. I guess you two are both for Gryffindor?"

"Sure" She replied confidently. After all, her whole family had been, so there was no reason to think she wouldn't. "I do wonder about Hugo though, sometimes" She said, disdainly, watching him pathetically try to fight off tears. She had always secretly thought he might be better off in Hufflepuff.

Lorcan raised his eyebrows slightly, but didn't comment. Lily became suddenly aware that Lysander was watching her unnervingly again.

"Yes?" she enquired, with a challenging note in her voice.

His gaze slid slowly down her in a way that made the hair on her arms stand on end, before coming to rest on the small owl cage which sat on her lap.

"That is an interesting owl. May I see it?" He asked, his gaze never wavering from the cage.

She wanted to refuse, but couldn't find an excuse which would seem reasonable, so reluctantly handed it over. The owl was unusually small, it was true. She had been an eleventh birthday present from her parents, and was currently her most treasured possession. Therefore, she watched in outrage as Lysander whipped_ her_ owl out of its cage, holding her upside down by the leg, and watched her struggle with an eerily detached expression.

"What are you doing?" Lily screeched at him, at the same moment that Lorcan yelled "Stop!"

However, before Lily could reach across to save the owl, Lysander had her back in the cage and was calmly passing her back across. Lily angrily snatched the cage back from him and gave the dirtiest glare she could muster. To her fury, he seemed completely oblivious of anything, humming quietly to himself, and serenely watching the passing scenery. Lorcan shifted around in his seat, looking ashamed, and Hugo was managing to look confused, embarrassed and terrified all at the same time.

Lorcan was just opening his mouth to apologise for his brother's behaviour, when a small tap at the door mercifully distracted them all. The door slid open, and a girl of around their own age stood watching them shyly. She had hair as deep black as Lily's, and skin the colour of honey, and Lily couldn't help but swallow a small pang of jealousy; the girl _was_ rather pretty.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but I couldn't find anywhere to sit. My name's Eva by the way"

A short silence followed, causing Eva to look unsure of herself. Lily made it clear she was in no mood to talk to the newcomer, by continuing to glare at Lysander, so finally Lorcan felt obliged to speak up.

"Hi Eva" He began, and to Lily's astonishment, he seemed to be colouring up a little; for unflappable Lorcan this was most unusual. "You can sit with us if you like. Are you first year too?"

"Yeah" She replied, smiling gratefully at Lorcan, and taking the empty seat next to him, opposite Hugo.

"I'm Lorcan, and this is my brother, Lysander" Lorcan continued, enthused by Eva's easy smile. "And this is Lily Potter and Hugo Weasley."

The lack of reaction at Lily's name surprised her, she was used to seeing eyes widen in shock, and her father's name being whispered around. She normally found this irritating, but she had become so accustomed to it, it now annoyed her more when people didn't respond.

"So, your muggle born then?" She demanded, not bothering to hide her irritation.

"Yes" Eva replied, looking suddenly nervous. Lily felt Lorcan kick her under the table, and caught him frowning at her.

"Don't worry, it's not important" Lorcan said, trying to reassure her, while Lily rolled her eyes at the ceiling. She didn't think the pureblood bullies in Slytherin would see it the same way.

"So you know what happens when we get there then?" Eva asked, nervously.

"Sure, we get sorted into houses, then we eat. Nothing to worry about."

Hugo started biting his nails and hyperventilating slightly at this statement. It was clear he did not agree with Lorcan on the no worrying front.

By the time they arrived at Hogwarts, dressed in their oversized robes and ready to sail across the lake, it was clear Eva and Lorcan got on like a house on fire. Even Hugo seemed almost comfortable, and appeared to have forgotten most of hid worries, as he contributed a few words to the easy conversation. Lysander was still staring out of the window and did not seem even to have noted Eva's presence. Lily was still in a bad mood, and had decided she did not much like Eva, and determinedly did not join the conversation, save for a few snide remarks aimed at Hugo. Eva was just too nice for a normal human being, and Lily didn't like the way Hugo and Lorcan's attention now so clearly centred around her.

Across the lake, Lily has to try to block out her Eva's overly dramatic gasps of astonishment, and Hugo's enthusiastic explanations of everything in sight. You would think the girl had never seen a castle before.

On entering the Great Hall, even Lily was amazed. It was so big, so grand and she found herself staring up at the enchanted ceiling was so big, so grand and she found herself staring up at the enchanted ceiling along with all of them.

"First years, please line up over here" came a crisp voice from behind her. A great deal of jostling around took place before the hat finally called out the first name;

"Barnes, Eva!"

Eva, nervous to be first, made her way up to the infamous stool. No sooner had the hat touched her head did it call out "Gryffindor!"

Lily narrowed her eyes as the hall burst into applause, and Eva made her way, smiling, to the Gryffindor bench. No way should that girl be in Gryffindor, she was too airheaded.

It seemed like forever, standing there, watching the terrified first years go up one by one, until the sorting hat finally came to her.

"Potter, Lily!"

She was suddenly, inexplicably, nervous as she sat on the stool and had the ancient hat placed on her head. But surely she had nothing to worry about...?

"Ah... another Potter..." The hat whispered in her ear. "So like your Mother and Father, and yet, so different. I'm going to have to tell you what I once almost told your Father..."

Lil froze. It couldn't be...

"...Slytherin!"

No-one applauded. Everyone knew who she was, or rather, who her Father was, and it was clear no-one had expected this. She looked down to the Gryffindor table where her brothers and cousins sat, stunned, except for Albus, who had a resigned and almost sad look on his face, as if he had known this were coming.

Well, she thought, there was nothing for it but to walk across the hall and join the Slytherin ranks. She suspected they wouldn't be pleased to have her. She was unaware that everyone was watching her, or that the sorting had continued, she was too busy thinking about, despite what he had told his favourite, Albus, last year, how disappointed her Father would be.

She was barely watching as Lysander was sorted into Ravenclaw, and then, another shock, Lorcan into Gryffindor. It was rare enough for siblings to be sorted into different houses, but identical twins...

And then, as Hugo, last one left, joined the generations of Weasleys in Gryffindor, proving her suspicions wrong. This was so not fair; there was no way snivelling, pathetic Hugo deserved to be in Gryffindor ahead of her. She knew she was brave enough, she_ knew_ she could fight off trolls and dragons and dark lords just like her father had done.

She sat for the whole feast, and for a long time afterwards, with angry, envious thoughts stirring in her mind.

_**Notes:** Let me know what you think with a review...? Chapter one coming soon :)_


	2. Chapter 1

_**Notes: **Hey again! :) Sorry if this fic starts off a bit slow and boring... I hope its going to get more intense later, when I get further into the story :)_

**Chapter 1: 3 years later**

**Lorcan**

The Great Hall buzzed with noise as several hundred students all discussed their summers at once. The sorting hat had just finished, and everyone was soaked from the raging storm outside. It can't have been a pleasant boat trip for the first years across the lake Lorcan thought, remembering the clear skies and the beautifully tranquil lake on his first day. Still, the cold and damp outside made the prospect of the feast and then a warm common room even more inviting than usual.

Looking down to where the first years were clustered, Lorcan couldn't believe three whole years had passed since he and his friends had been down where they sat now. He remembered that first day at Hogwarts almost as if it had been last week.

He had been shocked to find himself in Gryffindor, he'd always assumed he would be sitting at the Ravenclaw table for his first Hogwart's feast. Not that he had minded, in fact he was glad, for he had two amazing friends in Eva and Hugo, he didn't know what he would have done without them had he been sorted into Ravenclaw. One thing that hadn't come as much as a surprise to him, as it had to most of the rest of the school, was Lily being sorted into Slytherin. Courtesy of the friendship of their parents, Lorcan had seen quite a lot of Lily and her brothers throughout his childhood, and he knew Lily to be selfish and spiteful. Definately a Slytherin through and through. The ease with which she had settled in just went further to prove that she belonged there, however much she had denied it at first.

"So, how well did you manage to survive your week with Lily this summer?" Lorcan asked Hugo, who was sitting next to him, eating as if he hadn't seen food all summer.

Hugo shrugged. "Better than usual. She's seems to think she's above tormenting the likes of me now she's going out with Scorpius Malfoy"

"Bet her parents weren't too pleased about her newest _project_" Lorcan said, grinning to himself at the thought of Harry Potter's face on being informed his daughter was seeing Draco Malfoy's son.

Hugo smirked "Yeah, that would be an understatement. My Aunt Ginny was furious about it. Says he going to be a bad influence. If you ask me, she's more likely to have a bad influence on_ him_"

They laughed, and Lorcan glanced over to where Lily and Scorpius were sitting, entwined in each other's arms. Lily looked incredibly pleased with herself, and Malfoy look almost like a caged animal Lorcan thought, chuckling to himself. Hugo could just be right there.

"Lorcan! Don't stare; it's none of your business!" Eva chided, entering the conversation for the first time. Lorcan saw she was smiling though; she never had liked Lily much.

However, as they turned their conversation back to other aspects of their summer holidays, Lorcan noticed that Eva was still looking over at the Slytherin table.

"Eva!" Now_ you're_ staring" he exclaimed, making Hugo jump.

"I'm sorry" she said, colouring up slightly "It's just Scorpius is so... well, _pretty_... don't you think?"

He wasn't sure why, but Lorcan felt anger flood through his veins at this statement. He tried to calm himself, after all, Eva's girlish fancies had nothing to do with him. He controlled his features, and said "Well I wouldn't know, would I?" in a voice which made it quite clear his did not find Malfoy at all _pretty_. Arrogant and spiteful would be more like it.

"Hugo, back me up here! Don't you think Scorpius is good looking?"

Hugo dropped his spoon, and turned a bright shade of red. He scratched his head in bewilderment and mumbled something which could have been 'I dunno' into his soup.

"_Boys_..." Eva sighed, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

**Eva**

Back in the common room, Eva plonked herself down into one of the comfiest chairs in front of the fire. At least being a fourth year brought certain privileges like this along with the higher work load. Lorcan placed himself carefully on the other end of the sofa and Hugo sat nervously down on the rug near the fire.

Eva now regretted her comment about Scorpius during the feast, for it seemed to have had a bad effect on both boys. Lorcan was in an uncharacteristically bad mood, staring angrily into the fire and snapping at her attempts at conversation, whereas Hugo seemed to have withdrawn into himself and was looking extremely worried.

A great start to the year, Eva thought, sighing.

Anyway, it was not like she would ever date Malfoy herself, he was far too arrogant for her liking. Not to mention the fact that Lily would no doubt tear any girl to pieces that she caught anywhere near Scorpius. But that didn't stop her, along with most of the other girls at Hogwarts, enjoying a glance in his direction from time to time.

"Hugo!" Came a call from behind the sofa. Eva turned to see James Potter, Hugo's cousin, striding towards them. Great. Wherever James Potter went, trouble followed. "And Lorcan and Eva too! You three look incredibly down for the first day back. Want some Firewhiskey to cheer you all up?" He grinned, brandishing a bottle of Firewhiskey in his hand.

Eva rolled her eyes, it was just like James to get his hands on Firewhiskey when they had only been back at Hogwarts for a couple of hours.

"Where did you get that from, James?" Hugo asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Professor Haines" James replied, winking at his cousin.

Professor Haines was young, blond and pretty, and if you believed rumour, had long since succumbed to the charms of James Potter.

"So, you two are seeing each other then?" Hugo demanded.

"Now, now, my young friend, I couldn't be giving you a piece of information like that could I?" He replied, cheekily, patting Hugo condescendingly on the head, as though he were a dog. "_That _is between Ellie and myself" Eva took this to mean James _was_ going out with Ellie Haines, their Charms teacher. Typical.

"So... Firewhiskey?" Hugo asked, to Eva's surprise.

"I don't think-" She started, before being cut off by Hugo.

"I'll have some." He said, reaching across, grabbing the now open bottle from his cousin's hands and taking a massive swig from it.

"Hugo!" Eva exclaimed.

Hugo ignored her. "Lorcan?" He asked, holding the bottle out for his friend.

Lorcan considered for a moment, then shrugged and took the bottle. Eva noticed James looking smug, as if introducing his younger cousin and friends to drink was something he was immensely proud of.

Eva sighed. Well, if everyone else was going to get drunk, she might as well join in the fun, she thought, as Lorcan passed the bottle round to her."

**Hugo**

Several hours later, Hugo had to help Lorcan stagger up the stairs to their dormitory. Luckily Peter, who shared their room, was already asleep and showed no signs of waking. Hugo knew he would be furious if he woke up to find them in this state.

Surprisingly, Lorcan had handled the drink much worse than him and could barely hold himself upright.

"Hugo?" He whimpered, causing Hugo to cringe at how pathetic he sounded "I feel sick."

Great, just what he needed. He dragged the staggering Lorcan over to the window and opened it far enough for him to stick his head out. He tried to block out the sounds of retching by humming softly to himself, and quickly glanced over to check Peter was still asleep.

Lorcan pulled his head back in from the window and slumped down against the wall, with his head in his arms. His blond hair reflected the moonlight, which was now streaming in through the open window, making it shimmer in a way that fixed Hugo's gaze.

Although he could still stand perfectly well and didn't feel nauseous, the Firewhiskey was having an altogether different effect on Hugo. Thoughts that he normally worked extremely hard to block out of his head were starting to slip under the barrier he usually took efforts to keep up, and were swirling round his head in a dangerous manner.

For some strange reason, he found himself desperately wanting to know what it would feel like to run his hands through Lorcan's shiny, blond hair, or how soft his cheek would feel under his finger. He shook himself in a fruitless effort to get these thoughts out of his head, for now they had slipped in, it was becoming gradually harder to resist the desire to go over and find out.

After a few minutes of agonising, he could no longer bear it and slid over to where Lorcan was sitting against the wall. He watched, almost bemused, as his hand moved against his will, to gently cup Lorcan's chin. No-one had ever warned him about this side effect of Firewhiskey. He lifted Lorcan's

face up so that their eyes met. His were slightly unfocused, but still as piercingly beautiful as ever, bright blue against his sickly pale skin.

Although he had meant only to stroke his chin, Hugo found his gaze inexplicably drawn to Lorcan's lips. He couldn't help but wondering what they would taste like. And so, in a moment of complete madness, he leant across and kissed his friend softly on the lips, watching as his eyes grew wide in shock.

"Hugo! What are you doing?" Lorcan demanded, slurring his words a little.

Hugo lowered his eyes, ashamed, unable to believe he had actually just kissed his best friend. What was wrong with him? He felt himself go red, but couldn't help but thinking it might have been worth it – Lorcan had unbelievably soft lips. He shook his head, confused; he had not just thought that!

They sat there together for a few minutes in silence, until Lorcan finally managed to heave himself up on his bed, and turned away from Hugo, without another word.

Hugo pulled himself up onto his own bed on the other side of the room, thinking to himself that sleep could be a long time coming tonight. He knew he would regret the stupidity of his actions come morning and could only pray that Lorcan had drunk enough for him to forget what had just taken place.

**_Notes: _**_Review/Flame please? :) I'm serious about the whole flaming thing by the way, I want your honest opinion, whether I will like it or not. Chapter 2 is already written, it just needs typing up. Looking forward to hearing from anyone who has read this so far! :)_


	3. Chapter 2

_**Notes: **I'm sorry if this chapter is incredibly boring, it seems Eva's head is not a particularly interesting place to be. Note to self: Write less from Eva's perspective, unless something interesting is happening, to save people from dying of boredom! Anyway, thanks for the nice reviews so far, they keep me going when I feel I should just give up. Please let me know what you think if you haven't already :)_

**Chapter 2**

**Eva**

The first few weeks of term had flown by, and Eva had long since settled back into the familiar Hogwart's routine. It did seem the teachers were giving them considerably more homework than in previous years, she thought, as she sat in the library writing a History of Magic essay.

She looked across at Lorcan, and then to the empty seat where Hugo usually sat. Hugo had become less and less present recently and when he was around he acted weirdly. He seemed to have withdrawn into himself, for some reason, he had become almost as reserved and quiet as he had been when she had first met him. She thought it probably had something to do with Lorcan, as Hugo was taking obvious efforts to avoid being alone with him and was acting strangely around him. To Eva, it seemed as though he was constantly smiling through gritted teeth and wishing he could be elsewhere. But then, other times, she noticed him colouring up if Lorcan happened to brush against him, or even looked him in the eye for more than a second. Lorcan seemed to be his normal self; except for on occasions she had caught him staring into space with a determined expression on his face, as if he were desperately trying to remember something that had just slipped his mind.

Maybe they had argued, she thought. That seemed the most likely explanation for their strange behaviour.

Following this train of thought, Eva glanced back across at Lorcan, catching him watching her with an altogether different expression on his face. However, as soon as their eyes met, he started and looked away, blushing. Lorcan, blushing! He was usually so calm and unflappable… How strange, she thought. Never mind, he was probably just worrying about Hugo, like her.

"Hugo's been very quite recently" She said, with a question in her voice. She hoped perhaps Lorcan might want to talk about it, whatever _it_ was. However, the only reply she got was a vague mumble of assent.

"You didn't have a fight did you?" She asked, deciding to persevere with the subject.

Lorcan looked genuinely confused at this.

"I don't know… I mean, I don't think so… I don't remember…" He said, looking ashamed of himself.

She wanted to exclaim 'How on earth can you not remember something like that?' but held herself back; Lorcan was clearly quite distressed about it. Instead, she told him not to worry about it and put her hand gently over his.

"I'm sure Hugo will come round soon"

Lorcan didn't seem to hear her, he was looking down at their hands and colouring up, _again_.

Now it was Eva's turn to feel a wave of confusion, as she withdrew he hand from his. Godsake, why did boys have to be so difficult and awkward?

**Lorcan**

He wanted more than anything right now to tell Eva how amazing she looked tonight. The candlelight made her skin glow a beautiful honey-like colour and made her rich black hair shimmer irresistibly, so that he wanted to reach out and put his hands through it. Her eyes looked an even darker shade of brown than usual, he couldn't help but blush when she turned her striking gaze on him. But he couldn't say anything because Eva was his friend and besides, he couldn't quite seem to form the right words in his mouth.

He thought maybe he should think about something else, as he was quite unprepared for these alien feelings that hot him whenever he looked at, or thought about, Eva. Unfortunately, the next thing his mind turned to was Hugo. He knew Hugo was avoiding him and was starting to admit to himself that perhaps he was subconsciously avoiding Hugo too. But he couldn't quite figure out why... He knew it had something to do with that first night back at Hogwarts, when James had persuaded them into drinking too much firewhiskey. Something had happened that night, between him and Hugo. He just couldn't remember for the life of him what it was.

Great, he thought. He had somehow managed to ruin his relationship with both his friends in the first few weeks of term.

**Hugo**

It was around 8pm on a Thursday evening and the corridors of Hogwarts were all but deserted. Everyone was either in their common rooms, or working in the library. Hugo knew thats where Lorcan and Eva would be, most likely working together on their latest History of Magic essay in their normal spot, but he couldn't bring himself to join them. Instead he was wandering, without purpose, through the cold, stone corridors by himself, in a manner one would usually associate with a ghost.

The truth was, he no longer enjoyed his friends company as much as he once had. He felt strangely awkward around them, as if he didn't belong. He knew he felt guilty about what had happened between him and Lorcan, but was too ashamed to talk about it. Whether Lorcan remembered or not, he had no idea, but the way he looked at him sometimes made him think he probably had. He was probably disgusted by Hugo's unnatural behaviour, which would explain why he was avoiding his company. He had no way of telling if Lorcan had kept the _events_ to himself, or if the whole school was now whispering about it behind his back. He didn't feel he could trust _anyone_ anymore. Every time someone smiled, he wondered if they were laughing at him, calling him queer, or worse.

"Ah... Hugo." Came an unpleasant drawl from behind him, making him jump. Just what he didn't need right now - Lily. "I wonder what my little cousin is doing wandering around at this time in the evening... _alone_..."

Hugo spun round to face her, only to find herself looking at not only his cousin, but also the perfect face of Scorpius Malfoy. Just don't colour up, Hugo told himself forcefully, or else if Scorpius _knows_, he'll think I _like _him. Despite this, he felt the blood rushing to his face, as usual.

"Come on, Hugo. Your little friends haven't finally left you have they?" She sneered with mock sympathy. Hugo breathed a sigh of relief; Lily obviously hadn't heard, or else she would have got straight down to the point.

He glared at her, but didn't reply. She was clearly trying to impress Scorpius, so he thought the less he spoke, the less entertaining he would seem and therefore hopefully the less time Lily would spend taunting him. He also noted that Scorpius did not look particularly amused with Lily's bullying ways, in fact he looked as if he would give quite a bit to be somewhere else.

"Poor Hugo, all alone..."

She stepped towards him, and reached out to pinch his cheek in a patronising way. Hugo winced as she dug her nails in. Her face was a picture of jealous rage; Hugo knew she had never forgiven him for being sorted into Gryffindor when she had missed out, and she had always envied his ability to make close friends, which she undoubtably did not have and she had never failed to take it out on him. He braced himself for the first slap, but mercifully it never came.

"Lily, we should go..." Scorpius said, making a visible effort to drag Lily away by the arm. "He's not worth your time."

He couldn't help but feel a pang of hurt at this; Scorpius did not know him, how could he think himself able to judge what Hugo was _worth_?

"Fine." Lily snapped, but breaking out of Scorpius' hold to punch Hugo squarely in the stomach before marching away.

Hugo double over from the pain; he had no doubt he would be sporting the bruises to show for this for a while. Nevertheless, he didn't miss the look Scorpius gave him before he hurried after Lily. It definately wasn't a sympathetic look, but then he wouldn't expect that from a Malfoy, but nor was it a look of complete disdain of disgust. It was, Hugo thought, a look that said 'I'd stay out of her way if I were you.'

As if he didn't already know that.

_**Notes:** I'm sorry if this chapter was incredibly boring, I'm just trying to set things up for what's to come :) Also, if this didn't seem a satisfactory resolution to what happened in the last chapter, fear not, events in later chapters (I don't want to give too much away) will cause them to resurface again... ;) Thanks for reading, I hope I didn't let you down!_


	4. Chapter 3

_**Notes: **Sorry if this chapter is quite a bit longer than the previous ones, I had quite a lot to squeeze in! Also, I'm sorry if I have made any mistakes with the details of spells/places etc, it has been (*hangs head in shame*) actually quite a while since I last sat down and read Harry Potter, so I may have got a few bits and pieces wrong. Anyway, let me know :)_

**Chapter 3**

**Hugo**

A few days later, Hugo was sitting in Defence against the Dark arts, desperately trying to keep from falling asleep on the desk. Eva was sitting next to him and kept nudging his side every so often in an attempt to keep him awake. He had been sleeping badly recently and seeing as he was destined to fail DADA whether he paid attention or not, he figured it was an ideal opportunity to catch up on lost sleep.

"Hugo?" Eva asked, as the rest of the class started bustling into action. "Were you not listening? We're supposed to be practising together."

Hugo stared at her blankly; he had missed everything Professor Bryson had said. Eva sighed and picked up her wand.

"We're doing shielding charms, Hugo. I'll go first if you want, so all you have to do is hex me"

_'All_ he had to do', Hugo snorted, picking up his wand and pointing it towards Eva. Clearly she hadn't yet picked up on how useless he was at anything to do with casting spells. In fact, he was useless at pretty much everything, he reflected, sighing slightly. He couldn't cast a decent spell, he couldn't play quidditch, he couldn't make potions. He quite often wondered why he had ever received the letter inviting him to Hogwarts in the first place.

"Expelliarmus" He sighed, half-heartedly. A small spark came out the end of his wand, but nothing else happened.

"Expelliarmus!" He yelled, frustrated. This time the spell worked, but it bounced weakly straight off Eva's shield. Honestly, it was just typical of Eva to get it right first time; she was almost as bad as Rose, he thought to himself.

"Hugo," Eva whispered hesitantly, as she recast her shield. "Lorcan told me he noticed bruises on your stomach the other day…"

Oh, great. So not only had Lorcan noticed, but he had also been whispering about it with Eva behind his back. He glared angrily over to where Lorcan was busy shielding himself from one of Peter's charms. He caught Hugo's glare and in his confusion, his shield dropped for long enough for one of Peter's charms to slip through. Hugo watched in satisfaction as his wand went flying to the other side of the classroom. Serves him right, he thought.

"Hugo?" Eva continued, still under he breath. "No-one has been… _hurting_ you have they?"

"It's nothing" Hugo replied, trying once again, unsuccessfully, to get under Eva's shield. "James hit me with a bludger when I was helping him train, that's all." He didn't know why, but he didn't particularly want to talk about Lily right now, even though he usually shared most of his troubles with his friends.

Eva looked unconvinced, but let the subject go for now.

When Hugo's turn to attempt shielding came round, he was just as useless as he had expected himself to be. His wand was repeatedly sent flying to the other end of the classroom, despite Eva's attempts to make her charms weaker. He also managed to fall straight onto his back, when he carelessly tripped over a stray chair leg, probably adding plenty of new bruises to the nice collection Lily had given him.

Just to make matters worse, Hugo was painfully aware that Professor Bryson was watching him, with disdain written all over his face, for the entire time of their practice.

Therefore, at the end of the lesson, when an arm came out to stop him from leaving with the rest of his peers, he expected the worst. He would be told there was no further point in him attending DADA class and that he would have to take up a new subject instead. Divination, perhaps.

"Weasley, I'd like a word with you." Came the Professor's sour voice.

"Yes, Sir?" Hugo whispered.

"I can see you are struggling to keep up with the rest of the class. Do you agree with me?"

"Yes, Sir."

Bryson narrowed his eyes and Hugo sucked in his breath, bracing himself for what was to come.

"I've arranged for a student in the year above you to spend some time tutoring you in DADA, to try to bring you up to the standards of your classmates. He's a naturally talented young man and has agreed to give up some free time to help you out. I hope you make the most of it."

Hugo stared, that was not what he had been expecting.

"Thank you, Sir." He replied timidly, desperate not to seem ungracious. He didn't ask who the student was, but he thought he had a good idea. His cousin, Albus, was, like his father, exceptionally talented in DADA and Hugo couldn't imagine anyone willingly giving up their free time for him if they didn't already know him.

"Your first session will be at half two, this Saturday" Bryson continued.

"But Sir, this weekend's Hogsmeade weekend!" Hugo whined, despite himself. Bryson's eyes narrowed, he didn't look at all pleased about this outburst.

"I don't care what this weekend is, _Weasley_, if that's when your tutor wants to see you, there is nothing you can do about it. Don't forget it's his free time he's using up to help you."

Hugo sighed and nodded, refraining from adding that clearly his free time was going to be used up too. At least, he thought, looking on the bright side, he now had a reasonable excuse to get out of what would no doubt be a painfully awkward trip to Hogsmeade with Lorcan and Eva.

**Lorcan**

It was one of those cold, wet and miserable evenings when Lorcan fully appreciated the massive, warm fireplace in the Gryffindor common room. Everyone was crowded into the room, forced inside by the horrible weather, but the atmosphere was more thank pleasant. Yes, the room smelt slightly of damp from the wet clothes everyone had brought in with them, but Lorcan loved the comforting chatter and laughter that spread across the room.

He, Eva and Hugo were sat on the carpet just in front of the fire, discussing the Hogsmeade trip they were supposed to be going on tomorrow.

"You don't think they'd call it off for bad weather, do you?" He asked, worried.

"Nah, James told me he's been in a snow storm before, I'm sure a bit of rain won't put them off." Hugo replied. "I wish I was coming too…"

"Aw, Hugo… You know we wish you were coming as well. I can't believe Professor Bryson is _actually_ making you miss it!" Eva exclaimed, looking sympathetic.

Lorcan nodded, trying to look more sure about it than he felt inside. In some ways he was glad Hugo wasn't coming, although it made him feel like a terrible friend to admit it, but things were just a little awkward between them right now. Then again, he wasn't sure how he felt being alone with Eva; what with his newly found feelings for her and all. He couldn't be sure he wouldn't say or do something stupid and ruin their friendship.

"Thanks" Hugo replied, smiling at Eva. "I think I'm going to go off to bed now, I'm getting kind of tired. See you in a minute, Lorcan"

Typical Hugo, he had probably sensed that they would want to talk more about Hogsmeade, but would feel bad doing it in his presence, so he had thoughtfully excused himself.

"So what are we going to do tomorrow, then?" Eva asked, continuing the conversation as if Hugo hadn't just left. "We could visit the haunted shack? Or Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?"

Lorcan barely heard her, for some reason his head was spinning strangely and had a feeling he was about to say something incredibly stupid.

"Eva, would you like to come to Hogsmeade with me?" He heard him self ask. Damn, that was even more stupid than he had anticipated.

Eva frowned, confused, then burst out laughing.

"Lorcan, seriously, who else did you think I was planning on going with?"

"I dunno" He said, looking down at his feet to hide his red cheeks. Unfortunately, she didn't even seem to have picked up the general idea behind his ridiculous question. Perhaps on second thoughts it was fortunate after all. Better laughed at than rejected, he thought. But still, he thought, next time you'd better add _on a date_ or _go out with me. _"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes sounds good" He added, watching Eva try to put a straight face on.

"Right" She squeaked, trying to look sympathetic, then bursting out laughing again. Lorcan rolled his eyes and tried to keep from smacking himself on the forehead for his stupidity.

**Eva**

Eva woke up on the day of the Hogsmeade trip to find the tumultuous rain which had battered the castle the night before had passed over, leaving behind only thin covering of light cloud. It was still cold, but not unbearably so. In fact, she quite liked the feel of the fresh autumn breeze against her face, it reminded her of happy days collecting conkers, or going on woodland walks in her childhood.

After a warm breakfast in the Great Hall, Eva and Lorcan left a sullen looking Hugo behind and set off with most of the rest of the school to Hogsmeade. They followed the excitable crowds heading for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, which by the time they got there was overcrowded and extremely noisy. The shop, which had been founded by two of Hugo's uncles, had continued to do remarkably well after the war, despite the tragic death of Fred Weasley. George no longer worked in the shop himself, but he still owned it and looked after the running of it. Rumour was, though, he was looking to start to pass the shop on to the next generation, because he had decided he was getting too old and boring to keep the students of today interested. Eva knew from the couple of times she had met George that he was far from boring, but still, she could understand his thinking. It looked most likely that George's son, Fred, who had finished his seventh year last June, and James Potter, his nephew, were most likely to be given the reins, as they already contributed quite a lot to the shop, coming up with new ideas for merchandise and helping out in the shop on busy days. In fact, she thought she could see James now, by the counter, explaining the use of the ever popular skiving snack boxes.

Eva spent a short time browsing around the shelves, before noticing that Lorcan was hanging around behind her, looking unimpressed and slightly bored. She knew he wasn't really into practical jokes or anything like that, but he could have at least attempted to feign interest, she thought, sighing.

"Lorcan, do you want to go sit in a cafe, or something?"

"Sure, that would be great" He replied, looking very grateful to be excused from spending any longer among the joke-laden shelves.

They wandered down to the nearest cafe and sat down on an empty table by the window, with a steaming cup of coffee each. There were surprisingly few students around; presumably they were all still crammed into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes or the nearby sweet shop. Eva tried to start a conversation about their latest charms project, but Lorcan seemed ill at ease and wasn't really paying much attention to what she was saying. He kept looking like he had built himself up to say something, but nothing more than half-hearted agreements to whatever she was saying ever came out.

"I wonder what Hugo's doing" She wondered aloud, looking down at her watch. It was half twelve, so Hugo still had a couple of hours before he had to see his tutor.

"Pacing up and down in a useless attempt to get rid of his nerves, probably" Lorcan replied, smiling slightly at the thought. Eva grinned; they knew each other too well.

They both looked up as the first rain drops starting tapping on the window beside them. The sky was dark; it looked as if they were going to get caught in a storm, already the drops were becoming heavier and more frequent.

"Shall we head back now, before the worst gets here?" She asked, not looking forward to getting soaked.

"Sure, let's go" Lorcan replied, pulling his coat on quickly and striding towards the door. "We're going to get wet, Eva, are you sure you don't want to wait for it to pass over?"

"How do we know it's going to pass over? I don't like the look of those black clouds, we could get caught in a massive storm if we don't leave now"

Eva went through the door he held open, and stepped out into the steady rain, waiting for Lorcan to follow. They hurried through the streets, huddled together in an attempt to keep some of the wet and cold out. They had made it about halfway back to the castle when the heavens really opened on them and they started struggling to see where they were going as the now torrential rain was hurled straight into their eyes.

"We need to shelter someone!" Lorcan yelled against the wind, pointing at a huge conifer tree by the side of the road. Eva nodded, and strode over to stand under a thick branch, just above the height of her head. It didn't completely keep the rain out, but at least she could see now and the tree's branches kept out the worst of the howling wind. Lorcan squeezed in under the same branch, having to press up against her slightly to keep out of the rain. She blushed, confused to find herself embarrassed about the close proximity of their bodies.

"Uh... Sorry, I can move..." Lorcan stuttered, clearly uncomfortable.

"No, don't worry about it" She replied, not wanting to make Lorcan stand in the rain just because she felt slightly strange when he stood so close. It's not like it should have had any effect on her, they _were_ just friends, after all. She stood for a while, trying to avoid Lorcan's eyes, trying to think of something to say to fill the awkward silence. Finally, she looked up at him, only to find him watching her with a strange expression on his face, which she was now seeing more and more often.

"Lorcan? Why do you keep looking at me like that?" She asked, hoping she might finally get to the bottom of his weird behaviour. "Lorcan...?" She asked again, when his only reply was to tilt his head slightly to the side. She widened her eyes in shock when his next response was to bring his face down to hers and to kiss her gently on the lips, pressing his body further against hers.

She backed off as far as she could, her head whirling. Did this mean Lorcan _liked_ her? No way, they were just good friends. Then why had he kissed her like that? She had to admit, it would explain at least some of the strange looks and awkward silences of the past few weeks. And last night, she thought back, suddenly remembering, when he had asked her to come to Hogsmeade with her, had he been trying to ask her on a date? She cringed now, as she remembered how she had laughed at him.

"Eva?" Lorcan whispered, looking mortified with himself. "I'm sorry, Ok. It didn't mean anything, please don't hate me."

It didn't mean anything? Doubts crept into her mind, perhaps he had just been mucking about, or it had been an accident. But no, Lorcan didn't _do_ mucking about, and you didn't just kiss someone like that by mistake.

"Of course I don't hate you, Lorcan" She said, forcing a smile. "I think we should get back to Hogwarts now" She would rather face the screeching wind and rain right now, rather than any more time alone with Lorcan under this branch. Plus, she needed time to think, to straighten her head out.

Lorcan agreed, looking thoroughly miserable, and they set off together, in silence, into the pouring rain.

**Hugo**

The Common Room was deserted but for a couple of first years, it seemed _everyone _had gone to Hogsmeade except for him. He had no idea who his mysterious tutor was, or more importantly, why he had scheduled their meeting at such at inconvinient time. Surely no one in their right mind would want to miss a trip to Hogsmeade just to tutor a useless student in the year below?

He had checked with Albus, so he knew it definitely wasn't him, or any of his friends. He paced up and down in front of the fire, causing a pair of first years to stare at him like he was insane. He couldn't believe how nervous he was getting about this. He just couldn't help worrying that it would be some horrible jerk, who would laugh at his complete inability to cast even the most simple of spells and then promptly tell Professor Bryson that no amount of tutoring was ever going to help him. He sighed, there really wasn't much point in getting so wound up like this. He looked down at his watch: 2:15. He might as well start making his way there, it's wasn't as if it was going to help if he sat here worrying for another ten minutes, besides, might as well get it over and done with, he thought.

He meandered through the empty corridors, making his way slowly down to the defence against the dark arts room. On arriving, he stood outside the massive mahogany door for a while, butterflies starting to form in his stomach. He reached for the door, and closing his eyes, turned the doorknob and pushed it open. He couldn't help feeling like he was putting his hand into a pack of Bertie Bott's Every-flavoured Beans; he had no idea if he was going to get a pleasant surprise, or a nasty shock. However, what he found on opening his eyes, he was completely unprepared for.

For there, perched calmly on one of the empty desks and watching him expectantly, was Scorpius Malfoy.

_**Notes:** I actually quite enjoyed writing most of this chapter, even thought it took me quite a while, so I hope you like it! Let me know :) I haven't started on chapter 4 yet, but I'll try to get it done in the next few days :)_


	5. Chapter 4

**_Notes: _**_thanks for the reviews, especially TayaCurragh and Random Mumble, who have been kind enough to review every chapter so far! :D I'm sorry that I took a while to update, I haven't had much time or inspiration to write this chapter recently, I hope that doesn't show! I'm also sorry that this chapter is another very short one, it's not really meant for much more than setting up the next few chapters to come :)_

**Chapter 4**

**Hugo**

Hugo wandered through the corridors alone, as usual, he noted, on the way back from his most recent 'lesson' with Scorpius. He had been surprised at how well they had gone so far; in fact he had found himself quiet enjoying them.

Scorpius was a lot more pleasant (he couldn't quite call it nice) than he had expected, always patient with him, never sneering at how hopeless he was. Hugo felt he had learned more about defence against the Dark Arts in the last few weeks then what Professor Bryson had managed to teach him in three and a half years. Despite this, Hugo couldn't help feeling like something was missing. Scorpius was a good teacher, yes, but that's all he was. He was always distant and though he was never unkind, he was never kind either. It was a shame Hugo thought, for he liked Scorpius and thought they might have got along well if Scorpius could bring himself to let his barriers down. Sometimes Hugo thought he might have caught a glimpse behind the thick walls he kept up, a flicker of something when their hands accidentally brushed or a strange look in his direction when he thought Hugo wasn't watching.

Hugo sighed, he guessed friendships between their two houses just weren't meant to be. Especially when you put Lily into the picture too, Hugo knew she wouldn't be able to stand Hugo taking any of Scorpius' attention away from her.

He whispered the latest password to the Fat Lady, and stepped into a fairly empty Gryffindor Common Room. He spotted Lorcan and Eva sitting over in a far corner and got the feeling he might have been interrupting something, as they both stopped talking when they saw him draw near.

"Hugo!" Eva exclaimed, "How was your DADA with Scorpius?"

"It was Ok, I guess" he shrugged, finding himself, as usual, strangely unwilling to share the details of his time with Scorpius with his friends.

"Oh, Hugo, you never tell us anything about it!" Eva complained. "Come on, what's it like, having Malfoy as your tutor?"

"I've already told you, it's fine. He's a good teacher and he treats me better than I expected." he replied, getting slightly annoyed. Why couldn't they just talk about something else for a change?

Eva sighed, clearly that wasn't the answer she had been looking for, but Hugo stubbornly refused to expand further.

"So are you like friends or something now?" Lorcan asked, causing Hugo to clench his fists in irritation at the continuation of the subject.

"No, Lorcan, we are not, OK?" he fumed.

"Ok, Ok, just asking! Calm down Hugo, there's no need to get your knickers in a twist" Lorcan replied, putting his hands up in surrender. "Look, I think I'm going to go to bed now, I'll see you in a bit, Hugo"

"Hugo?" Eva asked, once Lorcan had disappeared into the boy's dormitories. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure"

He hoped it wasn't going to be more worries for his physical well-being or mental state.

"It's about Lorcan"

Hugo gulped. He was fairly sure he knew what this was going to be about. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as images of his lips against Lorcan's came flooding back. He was fairly sure the memory of Lorcan's soft lips would haunt him forever.

"He and I… we kissed, Hugo"

Eva looked embarrassed to be admitting this and Hugo couldn't stop himself from thinking 'Well that makes two of us'. He thought there was probably something ironic about their situation, but he had never had the wit for finding irony, instead he tried to keep himself from blushing at the awkwardness of the situation and searched desperately for something to say.

"Well, do you… like him?" he asked, hoping this was an acceptable thing to say.

"I don't know," Eva replied. "I really don't."

"Does he like you?" Hugo continued, suddenly stabbed by an unexpected pang of jealousy.

"I'm not sure. I thought maybe he did, but then he kept apologising and I think maybe he's wishing it never happened"

"Look, Eva, these things don't just happen by accident." Hugo replied, his own words causing unwanted thoughts to surface in his mind. He was right, these things didn't happen by accident and he knew at some point he was going to have to face up to what the fact he had kissed Lorcan meant for him. He had a fair idea, but he wasn't ready to admit it to himself yet, though he was continually haunted by the idea of the word queer being whispered behind his back.

"I suppose so," Eva continued, surprising Hugo out of his thoughts. Her eyes started to well up slightly causing Hugo to start to panic; he wasn't great with crying girls. "Hugo, I think I do like him, I just don't think he feels the same. I think he hates me for turning away when he tried to kiss me"

Hugo rolled his eyes. Wow, he had never seen Eva get so melodramatic. He put what he thought was a good, sympathetic face on and told her not to worry.

"Look, I'll go talk to Lorcan about it"

"Hugo, please don't tell him, he'll probably laugh." She replied, worried, but Hugo was already halfway up the stairs to his dormitory.

**Eva**

She contemplated going after Hugo to stop him, but she didn't want Lorcan to see her red eyes in case he thought her stupid. Which she was, of course, she couldn't believe she had worked herself up so much over this.

She hadn't really thought about her feelings for Lorcan before Hugo had asked, but now she had broken that dam, the confusing feelings were flooding out. She wanted to go back to their moment under that tree and kiss him back to let him know how she felt.

She waited for a couple of minutes, in case Hugo was planning on coming back down, but after a while, he showed no signs of reappearing, so she started to head up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

"Eva?"

She froze. Why had Lorcan come back down from his dorm? What had Hugo told him?

"I'm not sorry for kissing you"

Eva raised her eyebrows at this and turned round to face him. He stood at the bottom of the stairway, looking slightly desolate, with a couple of steps behind him.

"You're not sorry?"

"No. I did it because I like you, Eva. I'm sorry I was too scared to tell you before. I guess I've got Hugo to thank for reminding me that it's not fair to keep misleading you."

His face was a picture of nerves, but she could see a slightly hopeful look in his eye too. She laughed, and ran down the stairs, threw her arms round him and pressed her face into his shoulder. She felt his body tense at first, in surprise, but then he relaxed at drew her in closer to him.

"Eva… would you like to go out with me?" He whispered nervously into her hair.

She didn't reply, but looked up into his eyes, knowing he would be able to read her answer there. She reached up to kiss him, then glanced over his shoulder to where Hugo was stood, watching them with a small smile on his face. She mouthed 'Thank you' to him, and watched as he nodded his head and disappeared up the stairs to his room.

"So… where did we get to under that tree…?" Lorcan asked, with a teasing smile on his face. He bent down to kiss her again, harder this time, and put his arms round her waist, stroking her back. Her mind whirled as he pressed her up against the wall and deepened the kiss. Finally, they drew apart, out of breath, both knowing they need to stop before desire got too firm a hold on them.

Lorcan took her hand, stroked the inside of her wrist with his thumb and whispered 'good night' before disappearing into the boys' dorms.

Eva stood there for a moment, unable to fully believe what had just happened, licking her lips to remind herself of Lorcan's touch. She smiled to herself, happiness flooding through her as she headed up to bed.

_

* * *

_

Notes:

Thanks for reading, if you got this far :) I'm quite excited about writing the next chapter, I've had it planned in my head for a while, so hopefully it should be a quicker update than this one was! Please leave a review if you liked it (or even if you didn't), I'd love to hear from you :)


	6. Chapter 5

_Ok, so it's been a while since I last updated! I'm very sorry about that, to anyone who was following. I would like to dedicate this chapter to Ketamine, for encouraging me to continue writing. Thank you so much for everything :D I'm sorry if this chapter is really bad, it took me a while to get back into it again :)_

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Hugo**

The noise of plates clattering and people chattering excitedly filled the Great Hall as Hugo sat down opposite Lorcan and Eva for breakfast. It was a much anticipated morning, as the first quidditch match of the term, Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor was due to take place later that afternoon. Normally breakfast was a relatively quiet affair, most people were still half asleep by the time they made it to the Great Hall, but not this morning. This morning everyone was excitably predicting the outcome of the match, shouting insults at the opposing team's table, or practicing chants they had made up for the game.

The only people who seemed unaffected by the noisy atmosphere were his two best friends, Lorcan and Eva. They were sat close together, arms entwined, lost in each other's eyes. Even Hugo plonking himself loudly on the bench opposite didn't seem to distract them, it was as if they were in a completely different world, Hugo thought, sighing.

It wasn't like he regretted his decision to give Lorcan a push in the right direction last week, but ever since he had, it was almost as if he, and the rest of the world, no longer existed to them. At least they seemed happy, he thought. Still, as much as he would love for their relationship to last, he hoped they would come back down to earth sometime soon.

Then again, with them distracted, it was easier for Hugo to cover up things that Eva's sharp eye would never have missed before. Like the amount of time he spent glancing towards the Slytherin table during meal times, in an attempt to catch a glimpse of Scorpius, or the amount of time he spent daydreaming. He could no longer deny to himself that he was infatuated, he could only attempt to keep his thoughts to himself when in his lessons with Scorpius, and try not to let his feelings show in his eyes. Still, even with his efforts, he couldn't help but thinking that it must be painfully obvious to Scorpius and, most likely, the rest of the school.

Still, it wasn't like it was his fault that he was besotted with Scorpius Malfoy. The boy was as pretty as a china doll, and had an air of confidence and regality about him, without being arrogant. Hugo sometimes thought he would be happy to just sit there and stare at his beautiful face for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, it wasn't like he had a chance with Scorpius, not only was he a boy, he was Hugo Weasley; cringingly shy, painfully stupid and had never had a date in his life.

A crash brought him out of his reverie. He realised he had been holding a half eaten piece of toast in his hand for so long that it had gone cold. He quickly shoved it down on his plate, and glanced around to check if anyone had been watching him daydream. If they had been, they were now distracted by James, the source of the crash, who was waving his broom around in the air, and had succeeded in breaking several plates. Hugo rolled his eyes and stood up.

"I'm off to my lesson with Scorpius" he said in the general direction of Lorcan and Eva, knowing they were unlikely to hear him. "I'll see you in the common room before the game, OK?"

As expected, he got no response, so he turned and walked out of the Great Hall, into the silent corridors. His heart was starting to hammer, as it always did, at the prospect of being alone with Scorpius. He knew it was more from fear than anything else, fear that he would make a fool of himself and Scorpius would laugh at him in contempt.

He soon himself stood in front of the large, wooden door which lead to the room where his lessons with Scorpius usually took place. He took a deep breath and attempted compose his features.

He pushed open the heavy door and stepped into the room, noting Scorpius was sitting in his usual position on the desk, looking as serene as ever.

"Took a detour did we, Weasley?" he said, smirking slightly at the confusion on Hugo's face.

"No" Hugo replied, not quite daring to ask for an explanation.

"I was merely searching for an explanation for your tardiness, Weasley" Scorpius said smoothly, no longer attempting to hide the smirk that was spread across his face. Well, at least he didn't seem too angry about it, Hugo thought with relief.

"Sorry, Si-" Hugo said, managing to pull himself up before the word Sir came out of his mouth. He wouldn't give Scorpius another thing to smirk about. "Sorry, I guess I must have got caught up at the Great Hall. It won't happen again!"

"I'm sure." Scorpius replied, looking thoroughly unconvinced. It _was_ true that Hugo was late more often than not, so he was probably within his rights to be disbelieving. "We're going to attempt the body-lock curse, Petrificus Totalus, today. Allow me to demonstrate."

Hugo felt his entire body stiffen and lock into place as Scorpius pointed his wand in his direction. Unable to move, he lost his balance and toppled over onto the floor, his cheeks burning with humiliation. As soon as Scorpius removed the charm, and Hugo found himself able to move his limbs again, he scrambled up off the floor, brushing his robes down and trying to regain a small scrap of dignity. He noticed Scorpius averting his eyes, almost as if Hugo's embarrassment was too much for him to bear. In fact, Hugo thought with incredulity, he could have sworn that he saw a touch of colour in Scorpius' cheeks.

"Your turn." Scorpius said, finally looking Hugo straight in the eye.

Slowly raising his wand, Hugo braced himself for what he was about to do. The idea of knocking Scorpius onto his back didn't come easily to him. He gritted his teeth and frowned, still pointing his wand in the direction of Scorpius' chest. He tried to work up some anger, after all, he had just been knocked on his back, but nothing came. He just couldn't do it. Scorpius was too perfect and Hugo couldn't bring himself to see him sprawling around on the floor, possibly hurting him in the process. His wand sagged to his side, and he looked down at his feet, defeated.

Hugo heard Scorpius' footsteps slowly approaching him and saw his feet come into his field of view, stopping only inches away from his own. He backed away slightly before looking up at Scorpius, his cheeks burning with shame.

"Hugo Weasley," Scorpius began, his tone serious and his eyes slightly narrowed. "Are you _scared_ of me?"

"No." Hugo replied shortly, suddenly feeling defiant. He looked up, straight into Scorpius' eyes, willing him to believe it. Scorpius cocked his head, eyes narrowed, trying to hide his surprise at the sudden fierceness of Hugo's gaze.

"Prove it."

Hugo's eyes narrowed in determination. A sudden, wild thought flew through his head, something so ridiculous he knew he would regret it for the rest of his life if he went through with it. However, he seemed to have lost control of his body and was forced to watch in horror as his feet took him forward, stopping only when his toes were touching Scorpius'. He knew what was coming next; he had been here before, in his dreams and fantasies.

He looked up into Scorpius' beautiful grey eyes, throwing away all the barriers and restrictions that he had worked so hard all his life to maintain. He closed his eyes and with his heart hammering, he reached across and gently brushed his lips against Scorpius'.

He kept his eyes closed, and his face centimetres away from Scorpius' own, wanting to stay like this forever. He knew when he opened his eyes, he would have to return to the real world and face up to what he had just done. There was no hiding behind the lack of judgement that alcohol brought this time. Despite his dread at seeing disgust written all over Scorpius' face, he could not help but feel strangely liberated, as if something which had been kept enclosed for far too long had finally been liberated.

He heard Scorpius backing away from him, and reluctantly opened his eyes. Pure shock was written all over Scorpius' face, Hugo could almost see the thoughts and conflicting emotions racing through his eyes.

"I'm sorry" Hugo whispered to his feet. "I don't know what I was-"

Hugo flinched as he felt a finger underneath his chin. He barely had time to register what was happening before he felt Scorpius' lips on his own again. Except this time it was not just a brushing of the lips, Scorpius was kissing him as though his life depended on it. Hugo felt as if fire was racing through his limbs, as though he would explode if he didn't do something. He put his hands on Scorpius' shoulders, backing him into the wall behind him and moving his lips against Scorpius', hard and fast. He moved closer to Scorpius, pressing their bodies together against the wall. He lost track of time, lost in Scorpius and the feeling of their bodies entwined together.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Scorpius' hands slammed into his chest, sending him flying across the room. He felt his head hit a desk as he slammed into into and crumpled onto the floor. He looked up, his vision blurring slightly, to see Scorpius tearing out of the classroom. He left without a backward glance, not even pausing to shut the door behind him. Hugo was finding it very hard to compute what had just taken place and the red spots flying across his vision were not helping. He lay down on the floor, drawing his knees up to his chin and closed his eyes. He lay there, on the cold floor, without moving, until the darkness took him.

**Lorcan**

The Gryffindor common room was bursting with activity. Everyone was getting ready for the match, making banners, dressing up in their Gryffindor scarves and hats and chattering excitably. Lorcan was sat alone in the corner, feeling somewhat excluded from the proceedings. He never had really understood the idea of quidditch, or sport in general for that matter. It just seemed so pointless, he couldn't comprehend why people got so excited about two groups of people carrying balls about on their broomsticks.

He knew he wouldn't be in such a bad mood about it if it weren't for the fact that he didn't know where either of his friends were. Hugo always managed to amuse him with his endless enthusiasm for every aspect of quidditch and Eva always made him feel better just by being present. He had lost Eva at some point since they had got back from breakfast, amongst the throngs of people in the common room and Hugo should have been back from his lesson with Scorpius ages ago. He hoped they were both OK.

Almost as if Lorcan's thoughts had called out to him, Hugo suddenly appeared in front of him. Lorcan's eyes grew wide as Hugo sank down into the chair opposite him; he looked terrible. His face was deathly white and there was blood tangled into his hair, but worse was the expression in his eyes. He wasn't sure if it was despair, self-hatred or anger which was making Hugo's eyes so wild, but whichever it was, he was terrified for him.

"Hugo! What's _happened_ to you?" he whispered. "You look awful!"

"Thanks, Lorcan" replied Hugo, sounding exhausted.

"Seriously Hugo, I think-"

"Look, I don't want to talk about it right now. I'll be fine, OK?"

Lorcan thought about pressing his point, but in the end decided to give in, nodding slightly to show Hugo he wouldn't enquire any further. It was hard though, when he looked so ill, to just sit there as if everything was fine. He twiddled his thumbs in discomfort.

"So, are you looking forward to-" He began, before being cut off by Eva, who had suddenly whirled in and was standing in front of them, breathing heavily.

"Lorcan, Hugo! You have to come, your cousin's injured, Hugo, your family's down in the hospital wing!" she started, before taking in the state that Hugo was in. "Oh my God, Hugo, what's happened to you?"

"I'm fine, Eva." Hugo sighed. "Which cousin?"

"Sorry, I missed that bit. James; he fell from his broom in their pre-match training. He's not going to be able to play, they are going to have to call the match off if they don't find another chaser."

"Eva," Lorcan started, putting his hand on hers. "you need to calm down. The match isn't that important."

Both Hugo and Eva turned their incredulous stares on him at that comment.

"Of course, it is, Lorcan. It's all the school has been talking about for the last week." Eva said.

"Look, lets just go to down to the hospital wing and worry about this once we've seen James" Hugo said quietly, pulling up the hood on his sweatshirt to hide his blood-caked hair.

They made their way through the corridors, which were bustling with activity, as quickly as they could. It seemed rumour had got out about James Potter's injury and for some reason people seemed to be of the opinion that Hugo, being James' cousin, must be fully up to date with the situation, including knowing if the match was still on. Therefore, unfortunately, constant interrogation slowed them down quite a bit. Lorcan began to wish that they could have used James' infamous invisibility cloak to avoid all the unwanted attention.

They eventually made it to the hospital wing to find James sitting up in one of the bed, with bandages around his chest and arms, but otherwise looking perfectly normal. Albus and Rose were stood by his side, Albus in his quidditch robes, watching Hugo, Eva and himself as they rushed towards the bed.

"Hugo, you finally made it." Rose said, sounding unnecessarily worried.

"Calm down, Rose, you're making it sound like I'm about to die or something" James put in, grinning.

"James, how did you manage to do this so close to the game?" Hugo moaned.

""Are you going to be able to play?" Lorcan asked, even though he wasn't particularly bothered about the fate of the game, he knew this was the question everyone else wanted answering.

"No. Madame Pomfrey healed all the bones I broke, but apparently I still need more time to heal properly. I definitely won't be playing this afternoon and-"

"Unless Gryffindor can find another chaser in the next few hours, there wont be a match." Albus finished for his brother.

Lorcan felt James' eyes on him, but he couldn't bring himself to meet them. He knew what James wanted from him.

"Lorcan, Please-" James started, before Lorcan cut him off.

"No, James, what I said back then still goes. You know I don't want to be involved."

The others were watching the conversation with puzzled expressions. He had never felt to discuss this particular meeting with James with his friends before because it had never been that important to him.

"Look, Lorcan. I know you said you're not interested in playing quidditch, but you have to do this for me, for the whole school. This match needs to go ahead."

"Lorcan? What's he talking about?" Eva asked, looking confused.

"When I was in first year," Lorcan began, sighing. "James offered me a place on the quidditch team. I turned him down."

"I saw him in flying practice. He's an unusually talented flyer. I'm sure I've never seen anyone dart through the air so fast in my life."

Lorcan noticed Eva and Hugo watching him incredulously. He had always tried his best to hide his talent for flying from everyone, especially his friends, in order to avoid being pursuading into playing _quidditch_.

"But James, he's had no practice-" Albus began, looking worried.

"Al, do you want this game to go ahead, or not? Trust me. You've got a couple of hours left, I suggest you round up the rest of the team and get in a bit a last minute training." James said, forcefully. "Lorcan, what do you say? It's only one match. For Gryffindor?"

Lorcan thought about it for a minute. To be quite honest, he had been dreading this moment ever since James had first asked him to be in the team, all those years ago. He knew it was unusual to be asked to play for your house in first year. In fact, the only time he had heard of it before was with James' father, Harry Potter. He knew he was good with a broom, but he had never had any interest in playing quidditch, despite the fact he knew nearly everyone else in the school would jump at the chance to play for their house. He sighed, there was no way he was going to get out of this without disapointing his friends and the rest of his house.

"Lorcan?" Eva asked.

He raised his eyes and met James' eyes, giving him a small nod. James grinned and looked at Albus, who picked up James' clean quidditch robes from the side of his bed, and threw them in Lorcan's direction.

"Welcome to the team."

* * *

_Whew, that was a long haul! I enjoyed getting back to writing though, much better than dying of boredom in biology lectures... :) If there's anyone left out there after three months of silence, please let me know what you think :) Will try to make it a quicker update this time, I promise ;) _


	7. Chapter 6

I never thought I'd be back here saying this, but I have _actually_ made a start on chapter 6...! I know it's been a while, and there's probably no-one left out there reading this. But if one single reader drops me a message saying they would like to read chaper 6 onwards, I _promise_ I will finish this for you.


End file.
